Meeting the Family

Blogging must be like painting a picture, the first part is always the hardest.  Hopefully I'm better at blogging than painting!  After writing and deleting and writing again, its time to get this show on the road and meet the important people and ponies that make up the Saga of the Brown Dirt Cowboy.

I started my eventing career at the ripe young age of 24 in 2008.  Yes, I realize a lot of upper level riders have been around Rolex several times by 21 but I figure its never too late to try.  I quickly learned that eventing is awesome, regardless of the outcome which is a good thing because I wasn't very good at it at first.  My horse had never done it either so we learned together and with a lot of hard work, ended up completing a Training Three Day in 2011 as the highest placed Amateur rider.  This convinced me that I wanted to really try over the next few years to make it as far as I can.

My first horse was (is) Prepster aka Romeo.  I bought him in 2007 and started eventing him in 2008.  He put up with SO much more than I realized at the time.  He might not have always done what I wanted but he always tried for me and brought me home safe.  Once I started riding a little better, he started going a LOT better and we got really competitive at Training level.  After a minor injury in 2011, I decided that it was time to move on to a horse who would share my goal of moving up the levels.  It broke my heart to sell Romeo but he went to an amazing home in Knoxville TN where he is showing his new mom Emily the ropes of eventing. 

Romeo at the first horse inspection at the IEA T3D

Warming up before a clinic with Nadeem Noon

My current horse is the star of the blog, Dirt Cowboy.  He is a 4 year old (almost 5, I remind him of that when he is bad) OTTB who won a whopping $191 at the track.  He is by far the most difficult but also the most talented horse I have ever been on.  Since I bought him in 2011 I feel like I've learned more than I learned in all the years of riding before that.  We are taking it slow and mainly trained last year at home so he could gain confidence.  We finished the year with a respectable showing at a Starter Mini Trial.  What Mr. Cowboy doesn't know is that I have BIG plans for him this year!  We plan to start our year with a few schooling shows and then get our feet wet at May Daze. 

One of Cowboys first jumps

Learning to relax at a horse show - Stone Place 2012

If I've learned one thing, its that you can't event by yourself.  Trust me I tried and it doesn't go very well.  I'm blessed to have an amazing family to support me, a trainer who goes WAY above and beyond what I pay her for, and an amazing group of barn friends.  My sister Emily is my professional groom and photographer at events.  She always keeps us straight and lets me know when I screw up but I know the truth, she is my biggest fan.  My husband Nic is the lucky man who gets to live with a horse crazy girl.  He puts up with me being gone 5 nights a week and doesn't even get mad when I go to horse shows on our anniversary.  He has learned to like events because you can drink beer.  He is really good at drinking beer and holding my horse while I braid mane.  My mom, and sometimes my dad, comes to nearly all shows and even some lessons.  When I first started eventing my mom would walk courses with me and couldn't believe we were going to jump the Novice stuff.  I knew we were going places when she walked a Training course with me and pointed out that the Prelim stuff didn't look that big anymore.  Maybe someday she can walk my Rolex course with me, if she tells me it doesn't look too big I'm sure we can make it! 

Before I met Leigh (her show name is Leigh Smith, yes I'm lucky enough to ride with a four star rider!), I didn't understand what a difference a good trainer makes.  In a few short months, she took Romeo and I from struggling to finish a Training event to placing consistently finishing in the ribbons.  She really seems to believe in me and Cowboy and that gives me a lot of confidence.  Even after several tequila shots she still says we can make it all the way, that means it has to be true right? 

I'll wrap this up before it gets too long!  I hope you all enjoy reading about our adventures!!  Cowboy and I will be updating soon :)